Reprise
by Nickolai1991
Summary: Waking up in a post-apocalyptic world, our hero needs answers.Who is he, where did he come from? What are the creatures roaming the darkness? Who are the Order of Nyarlathotep and what do they want?
1. Reprise

Chapter 1: Reprise

His chest heaved as his fingers grasped for a solid surface, the constant droning of a siren lingered in the dullness of his mind. His lungs were burning. It pained him to think he had to open his eyes and the energy it would take from his already insignificant supply, but he must. As he fought the battle against his own body, the siren could be heard more clearly and with increasing volume before his left eye finally bridged the gap and flickered open.

A golden light that engulfed his entire vision for a split second, dissolved in an instant leaving nothing but a red glow in a veil of darkness in its wake. Fire, he thought. He tried to move, but it was futile, he had not the energy. The siren continued its invasive whirring noise. Everyone within miles would be able to here it, he mused. Death seemed likely, his only hope was to pass out of smoke inhalation before the fire spread to him.

Just when he was ready give out all hope, he heard something through the wall of sound the siren was producing. Something familiar. Voices. He could not summon up the energy to generate any momentum, his only choice was to scream as loud as he could, though he knew the next breath he would have to take after it would probably make him pass out.

He closed his eye again, and with the last of his strength, he let out a cry for help.

It felt as though he were swimming in a sea of chocolate pudding. His limbs were sluggish and his senses were impaired. He was floating.

"I think he is waking up." Said a formless voice, reaching out through the sea to his ears.

He coughed and began to open his eyes, but was momentarily blinded by an artificial light source above him, he raised his hands to cover his eyes, trying to squint through the brilliance to ascertain his location. "Where…?" he began, but was cut off when a hand gently placed a cool cloth on his forehead, he realized he had a fever.

"Shh, no speaking. Not yet anyway. There will be plenty of time for that later." Said a more feminine voice than the one had heard before.

"Who…?"

"I said shush. My name is Ishizu, now please lie still." She dabbed the cool cloth on his skin some more, the relief was immense.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed he was not in a hospital room like he had first thought, the walls were a dull grey and the white cabinets next to the wall looked like they had been through hell, he was laying on a mattress on the floor. The scene did not inspire the feeling of cleanliness he had been hoping for.

He heard a man cleaning his throat, turning his head to the door frame of the small room, he noted a tall, slender man. He was wearing a black jumper, with black jeans. In his hands, was a gun. He wasn't sure what kind of gun it was, he had never seen one that shape before.

"Ishizu…can I trouble you for a moment?" Said the man, his eyes quickly flickering towards the hallway behind him, indicating he would like this conversation to be in private. Ishizu took the cloth from his head again, placing it in the metal bowl next to her filled with water, wrung it out before placing it back on his head. She then got up and walked out of the room.

The conversation must have been brief, because it wasn't a minute later that she returned to small room and kneeled beside him once again. She looked troubled, her face was contorted, as if she was trying hard not to cry.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions. I don't want you to say anything else, just answer the questions in as few words as possible. Do you understand?"

He nodded his head, "Yes."

"Good. First, what is your name?" She looked at him with such intensity, he wondered if he even needed to answer, or she was just reading his mind.

"I…I don't know. I can't remember. I woke up-"

"That will do. Short and brief please. Second question. Do you work for Nyarlathotep?"

"Who? I've never heard of him…" He sighed, it felt like he was on trial.

"Hmm. Last question. You are wandering across the Egyptian desert, you are a rich man, with many camels and caravans in toe. During your travels, you find a man on the verge of death. What do you do?"

"What…I don't understand.." The question seemed entirely irrelevant and far too fanciful to be taken seriously. He wondered if the woman was playing a game with him.

"Please…answer the question. I beg you." He licked his lips and looked into her eyes again. She was right, she was begging him. Begging him for the correct answer."

"I would share my food and water with him. I would let him rest in one of the caravans to escape from the sun. I would try and save him." He answered as truthfully as possible, lying seemed utterly pointless.

The woman known as Ishizu let out a deep sigh. "You passed."

That night Ishizu brought him some supper, after insisting he sleep more to gather his energy. For the first time that day, he found himself able to sit up on his own, his naked back resting against the cold concrete. He picked the chicken that Ishizu brought him off the bone with his fingers as she started rearranging the contents of some of the cabinets. Most were medicine bottles, filled with either pills or clear liquids. Others had plastic containers ,sterilization packets, bandages and other such necessities. He wondered why someone would need so many medical supplies.

"This just won't do." She said, turning to face him. Perching precariously on top of one of the cabinets.

"What won't?" He said, tearing off another strip of chicken.

"You need a name, something to call you until you remember your real one." As she spoke she was tying her lengthy jet-black hair back with a gold ribbon.

"Ah, good point. Any suggestions? I mean, its rather unusual having to pick your own name." He placed his plate on the floor next to the mattress.

"Hm, you look like a Joe to me. I like the name Joe." She smiled and picked up his plate.

"I think I prefer Joey better, I mean, Joe makes me sound like I'm dull. Of course, for all I know I could be." He smiled, trying to mentally remind himself of his new name, training his brain to recognize it.

"I like that. Joey is nice too, now, a little more sleep for now and I'll come by and see you in the morning." She turned to leave with his plate in her hands,

"Ishizu."

"Yes, Joey?" She tilted her head.

"Thanks for the meal, it was lovely."

"Don't thank me, you can thank Seto for that. He is the chef 'round here." She smiled once more and turned, closing the door on her way out.


	2. Red Sky In Mourning

Chapter 2: Red Sky in Mourning

In the morning, Joey, as he had now become known, felt much more refreshed. He felt he could finally stand up on his own two legs again -a bath wouldn't go amiss either. He looked around for some clothes, as he felt a bit uncomfortable leaving the room in just the pair of blue jeans Ishizu had left on him, especially as he still wasn't sure where he was, or what was waiting for him beyond the door he had spent the last two days behind.

After his search yielded no significant results, he figured he would have no other option that to go out there as he was. He turned the knob on the door gently, trying to make as little noise as possible, as to not attract attention to himself. He only wanted to survey his surroundings. Beyond the door was a corridor, made out of the same grey concrete as the room he was just in, with no windows, or any natural light source. He started to wonder if it was even morning at all.

Picking a direction he continued along the corridor, coming across an identical wooden door as the one he had just opened. He figured he better keep track of what route he was taking, as this place seemed easy to get lost in. Beyond the door lay a corridor much the same, but with an ascending concrete staircase at the end of it. "I must be underground…" muttered Joey under his breath, it was logical to assume from the lack of windows or natural light of any kind.

Stepping towards the staircase he started to hear the distant chatter of voices from the top, most spoke in hushed tones, making it almost impossible to here what was being said. At the top Joey was surprised to see a large group of teenagers sitting around a breakfast table, when what he was really expecting was some kind of military meeting. In comparison, the scene before him couldn't look more welcoming and pleasant.

"Oh!" Squeaked a voice from the table, "look!"

Everyone at the table looked in his direction, all of them seemed to be analyzing him with as much scrutiny as Ishizu was the day before and only tore their eyes away when a familiar voice cried,

"Joey! What are you doing out of bed?" Ishizu was standing in the doorway from what he assumed was the kitchen, she was holding a loaf of bread in her hands.

"I'm sorry, I was just curious, I wanted to know where I was, this is all very surreal by the way." He ran a hand through his blond hair, trying to ease as much tension from the situation as possible. Being shirtless wasn't helping anything.

A man with blue hair chuckled from the breakfast table. The younger one with unusual hair, who first noticed him enter also seemed to be biting his lip to keep from laughing.

"Of course, I apologize Joey. Please, come sit and eat some breakfast - I'm afraid we don't have much." Ishizu walked over to the wooden table and started breaking up the break onto everyone's plate. He noticed that others got bigger portions that others.

Joey took a seat on the bench next to the small boy with the strange hair, it had shades of red, gold and black running through it, making it difficult to figure out what part, if any, was natural. It also looked like it hadn't been cut in a while and hung loosely around his shoulders.

"Hi, my names Yugi." He smiled and held out his hand, Joey took it and shook. Smiling in reply. "You must be pretty confused, huh? Ishizu told us you lost your memory. Is it true they found you- hey, ouch!"

The table moved slightly as Yugi cried out in pain, it seemed that he had been kicked under the table by the brown haired girl sitting across from him. "I apologize on behalf of Yugi, he doesn't know how to shut up sometimes. My name is Anzu, pleased to meet you" She bowed her head. "It's okay, I don't mind. I wish I could give you more details, but I'm afraid you probably know more about my situation than I do at the moment. My head still feels foggy." Joey picked at his bread while looking downward, still feeling insecure about being shirtless.

"Oh, goody" Exclaimed Yugi, as the man in black from yesterday came out of the kitchen. Today however, he seemed to be wearing more casual clothes, and Joey also noted that his gun had been replaced with a frying pan full of eggs, which the man proceeded to share among the group.

"Thanks, Seto! You're a doll." Said Anzu, dipping a piece of her bread in the yoke.

"I aim to please, Anzu." Seto smiled and cocked his head at Joey. "Have we introduced a new rule where we are allowed to eat half naked now?"

"I'm sorry Seto, the clothes he was wearing when you and Mako brought him back from Rarrogehna Site were dirty and I had to wash them. They should be dry by now, I'll give them back to him after breakfast."

Joey felt even more embarrassed about being the only person their not fully dressed, but a quick glace around the table made him realize that it was all just a playful joke.

"I know he looks scary, but he isn't that bad really. We have a lot to thank him for." Explained the boy at the far end of the table, who had remained oddly silent. His skin was so pale, Joey wondered if he was sickly but by whiteness of his he figured it more probable he was albino. Yugi, Anzu, Ishizu and the blue haired man all nodded in unison at the pale boys statement. Once breakfast was over the pale boy cleared away the dishes with Yugi, and Ishizu led him into another room beyond the dining hall. Joey noticed that this building looked like it had once been owned by a very rich person, but that most of the valuables were gone, leaving the large rooms practically empty. It was almost haunting.

Ishizu explained that she was going to fetch his clothes for him, while she did that, Joey walked up to the first window he had seen since he came here. However, it had bars on the inside, and the outside was all boarded up, which served to only pique his curiosity even more.

"Okay, change into these, leave the pair of jeans I let you borrow by the door, I'll wash them later." She pushed the bundle of clothes into his arms and left in what seemed to be a hurry. As he changed into his clothes he studied them closely. Trying to find clues in them that might trigger his memory. However he had no luck their either, his plain blue T-shirt had no identifiable hint of his identity, not even a brand name. His jeans were a darker shade of blue, but still held no brand name. Not that he would remember a brand anyway.

The door Ishizu left through opened again and the blue haired man walked through, with an obviously upset Anzu behind her. He figured this was not the moment to be hanging around and decided to duck into a nearby hallway and try and blend in.

"Mako, please. Please don't go out there. Not after what happened with Marik. If the same thing happened to you…I…I don't think I could go on any longer." Tea covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide the fact her lip was trembling.

The blue haired man closed his eyes and pulled her close to his chest, "Anzu…I have to. If not to protect you, then to protect all of us. I have to go back to Rarrogehna, Marik might still be alive. Someone needs to rescue him."

"Please come back…" Anzu whispered, though it echoed in the empty room.

"I will. I promise." Said Mako as he walked towards a broom closet and pulled out a strange looking mechanical spear and what seemed to be a deck of cards. "I love you, Anzu." He said as he opened the large double doors in the front of the room.

Outside, to Joeys horror, was a sky tainted a bloody red. Streets were barren and cars left to rot. There was hardly a single leaf on any trees he could see. It was a wasteland. Once Mako stepped out, he never looked back. Anzu closed the doors.


	3. The ShadowKin

Chapter 3: The Shadow-kin

Anzu rested hear head against the wooden doors, her eyes clenched tight and her body shaking with silent sobs. Joey felt dirty, he felt like he had imposed on the most tender parts of someone else's soul. Unsure of any other option he slid out silently from his hiding place, in the corridor just out of sight. He walked in the direction of Anzu, she looked like she needed some form of comfort right now. He placed a hand on her shoulder, but as he did his arm screamed in agony as a series of cramps forced his arm up and around his head.

With a sharp intake of breath, he cried out in pain. He was now flat on his back on the floor, his arm twitching painfully.

"Oh, Joey!" Cried Anzu, "I'm so sorry Joey, I didn't realize it was you. My mind was somewhere else!" Anzu bent down and tried to help him get back up, with an apologetic look on her face.

"You…you flipped me!" Joey was stunned, he had just been floored by a girl, a girl who looked like she would have a hard time lift a bag of groceries.

"I know, I'm sorry. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that though. For all I knew you were a Shadow-kin." She dusted off his T-shirt with her hands.

"Shadow-kin?" He asked.

"We'll talk about that another time," She replied, wiping the evidence of her tears away with the back of her hand. Joey nodded, he didn't want to push the issue any further, Anzu looked like she was trying to be strong in front of Joey. "I'm going to go help Ishizu with the cleaning. Why don't you go visit Yugi, he's in the basement. He is in the room next to the medical bay, the one you were in. He's better at explaining this stuff than I am." Without further exchange, Anzu turned and walked into the hallway that Joey was hiding in, apparently going to her bedroom.

Passing through the dining hall again, Joey noticed the pale skinned boy still sitting by the table, reading a tattered book. He looked up from his book and gazed at Joey.

"Murder." He said.

"What?" Joeys eyes widened, his brow elevated quizzically.

"The book…its about murder," He replied, his voice seemed distant and dream-like. "My names Ryou." Without waiting for any further reply, he lowered his head back into his book. Leaving Joey feeling quite bewildered by the awkward conversation. Turning, he quickly descended the staircase into the basement and glanced around for the door he came out of. Paying more attention to the corridor there were three locked doors on the left and an open door at the other end, leading to another corridor. He continued on until the sound of metal crashing against metal from up ahead made him stop. He heard some muttering, then some more clanging and then silence. Curious, he continued on until he got to an open door, the room beyond was no bigger than the medical room next to it, but it seemed even more claustrophobic as its walls were lined with various guns and melee weapons. Sitting at a wooden table in the middle sat Yugi, his hair tied back in a short ponytail, his hands and face seemed to be smeared with engine grease. On the table in front of him sat a chain link whip, with a sharp dagger at the tip.

Yugi looked up from his work and grinned from ear to ear, "Joey! You came to see me!" He indicated with his hand to sit with him at the table, which Joey gingerly did. "Yeah…Anzu said I should come take a look. Learn some things, get in the loop, y'know?" Joey prodded at a red crystal that was sitting next to some spare parts. It felt warm to the touch.

"Oh! Great idea, so she sent you to me, huh? My reputation proceeds me! So, you want to know what the hell is going on I bet? I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my memory and wake up in such a strange situation, though in some ways you are lucky, some of us would rather forget…" Yugi's eyes looked past Joey, into the distance, looking at nothing in particular.

Joey nodded.

"Great! Well, I 'spose I should start at the beginning. Last year, in 2014, the sky turned red one day. There was no reason for it, and no one could figure it out. It didn't seem to have any negative side effects, crops still grew, and the atmosphere remained intact," Yugi picked up a screwdriver while he was talking and tightened some screws on the whips handle. Joey listened intently, know first hand that the sky was indeed now red. "However, more and more people started disappearing. At first it was only a few localized incidents, stories of families who went to bed one night and woke up with one, or even two members missing. Pretty soon though, people started to panic. The disappearances only escalated and people were afraid to even sleep, fearing that when they woke up, their loved ones might be gone. It wasn't healthy.""What happened to them? Where did they go?" asked Joey, his eyebrows knitted tightly in curiosity.

"We still don't know, to this day where they go during the day. However, we do know that they return at night. We call them Shadow-kin."

"Anzu mentioned those!" Exclaimed Joey, but quickly covered his mouth with his hand and indicated that Yugi should finish his story.

"Yes, I imagine Anzu would know plenty about the Shadow-kin. Anyway, the Shadow-kin are the bodies of the people taken, but they are empty inside. They are cold-hearted, intelligent, machines with no morality. They don't even know right from wrong." Yugi paused, momentarily stopping his work to read Joey's expression, he must have looked pretty frightened because Yugi put his own hand over Joeys."It's okay," he said in a gentle tone, "we are safe here. Well, safer than any other place. We have the weapons to fight them." Yugi picked up the handle of the whip in one hand and one of the red crystals in another.

"We have to test everyone we meet in the outside, to make sure they aren't Shadow-kin. If a Shadow-kin gets you, you become one of them. We don't know what happens to the old you, I guess you die in a way. That's what I believe anyway, Seto thinks otherwise."

Joey was sweating, he didn't remember his old world, but he knew it was nothing like this. This was some sort of nightmare. Would he be able to survive in such a strange world?

"I think that's enough for today…you don't look well. Maybe we over-exerted you on your first day out. You should go rest in the medical bay again. I'll come wake you up for dinner. Sorry if I wake you with my noise." Yugi let go on Joeys hand, some engine grease now marked nodded wordlessly and stood up in a daze, leaving the room quietly. This was all too unreal. When he got back to the less-cramped-but-still-tiny medical room, he was glad there weren't any windows after all, who would want to look out at that nightmare?


	4. SOS

Chapter 4: SOS

Joey lay on the mattress for what seemed like hours, looking at the ceiling. Yugi's story about the Shadow-kin seemed entirely farfetched, but deep down, he knew it was true. He was just about to consider getting up and going back upstairs to join the others when suddenly he heard the muffled sounds of the group all talking at once echoing into the basement. He quickly got up and sprinted towards the staircase, upon reaching the top he frantically looked around for signs of life, Ryou's book lay open on the table, but there was no one in the dining hall. The noise was coming from the kitchen.

"Shush, Yugi, I'm trying to write down the co-ordinates." Said the voice of Ishizu. Joey took tentative steps towards the kitchen, it was large with gleaming marble countertops, but just like the rest of the house, seemed entirely too empty to have anyone actually living here. At the far end of the room he saw Ishizu bent over, her ear next to an old radio while frantically scribbling notes into a piece of paper. The rest of the group, minus Mako, were either sitting on the countertops or leaning against a wall. Everyone seemed worried about something.

Yugi must have sensed his presence and looked behind him to spot Joey, with a wave of his hand he indicated that he should come sit next to him.

"What's going on?" Whispered Joey.

"A distress call," Explained Yugi, "Someone's in trouble. It happens sometimes, people get lost or have nowhere to go after the Shadow-kin get their friends." The thought troubled Joey, what if the same thing happened to him?

"Okay," Said Ishizu, putting her pen down and straightening up, "We have a distress call on all frequencies. The girl claims her base was attacked by the Shadow-kin, and that she is the only survivor. She gave us her co-ordinates, so we just need to deicide whether we should help or not."

"Why wouldn't we send help!" Said Joey, shocked that they would be willing to let someone die out their all alone.

"Calm down, Joey" Said Seto, uncrossing his arms and putting his hand on Ishizu's shoulder, "Ishizu would never leave any human alone out there. However, we have to make sure she isn't a Shadow-kin.""They can do that? I mean, I pictured them as…something similar to a zombie."

"No, they are not zombies. Far from it," chimed Anzu, "They are just as smart as any other person, and they look perfectly normal. But never be fooled by them, they may look like our sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, but they are not human." She spoke with such hatred in her voice, it left little doubt in Joeys mind that she had watched someone close to her get taken by them. "So how do we make sure?" Asked Joey, looking around for signs on peoples faces that would indicate they had an answer.

"We can't ever be completely sure." Explained Ishizu, "Especially when we can't see their faces. Shadow-kin lack any emotions, though some have learned to mimic them. Sometimes it shows on their faces that they are being insincere, it really is our only clue.""We have to come to a decision right now, Ryou, how many hours do we have before the sun sets?" Asked Seto. Ryou didn't turn to look at Seto, instead he was intently watching his own reflection in one of the hanging pots.

"Taking into consideration the time of year and the cloud density, I would say you have close to three hours before complete darkness."

"That should be plenty of time to get to Skyark and back, wouldn't you say." Said Seto. Ishizu sighed and nodded her head.

"I'll go with you Seto!" Exclaimed Yugi.

"Thanks, Yugi. What about you, new-guy?" Seto turned to face Joey, "How do you feel about coming along? You can't stay in here forever, and we could sure use the man power. I promise I'll look after you, don't worry."

Joey quickly nodded, "Yes, I'll go. I want to help any way I can.""Excellent," said Seto, clapping his hands together. "Anzu, will you get my gun and cards, please? Yugi, go get your weapon and give Joey here a torch."

"You got it, Seto" Said Anzu and Yugi. Yugi jumped off the counter, taking Joeys hand and dragging him back into the dining hall and down the stairs into the basement. Once they got back into Yugi's tinkering room, Yugi started pulling out a chest that was up against one of the walls and opened it. It was empty. However, just when Joey was going to inquire as to why he had pulled out an empty chest, Yugi slid a panel on the bottom of the chest and pulled out a short, curved sword.

On its handle were carvings of half-animal, half-human creatures and at the hilt was one of the red crystals Joey had touched previously on the table in the centre of the room.

"Do you like it?" Asked Yugi, "It's Egyptian, passed down my family for generation. The blade never dulls." Yugi pulled the blade out of a protective sheath and gave it a swing, making Joey jump.

Yugi giggled. "You are so easy to scare. Here," Yugi picked up a torch on the near by shelf and passed it to Joey, then put his sword back in its sheath. "Don't lose it, torches are a precious commodity. Don't switch it on and off either, batteries are even harder to find."

When Yugi had pushed the chest back up against the wall, they left the room and ascended the staircase and instead of going through the door to the kitchen, proceeded towards the front hall, where he had previously been floored by Anzu.

Once they got the hall, everyone was already waiting, Ryou had now returned to his book and was reading it whilst standing up.

"Okay, here are the co-ordinates" Ishizu tucked a piece of paper into Seto's pocket. "If the sun starts to set and you haven't found her yet, come straight back. We can try again in the morning."

"And Seto, Yugi…" Said Anzu, "If you see Mako while you're out there…tell him to come home, please."Seto and Yugi nodded, "We will, Anzu, don't worry." Said Seto. Once everyone had said their goodbyes, Seto opened the door, the room filled with an eerie red glow from the tainted sky up above. Joey walked out behind Yugi and Seto, and once they and fully exited the doorway, the door closed behind them, and he heard the lock click.

A/N: Thank you guys, for all the awesome feedback. It really means a lot to me that you take the time to read AND review/comment on my story. There is nothing nicer than coming back to see another comment. So, thank you. I'm writing this for you guys, for as long as you want to read it. 3


	5. Rescue

Chapter 5: Rescue

Once Joey had walked past the gates to the house, he looked back to see what it looked from the outside. It was big, more of a mansion than a house, at least three stories tall, but looked just as abandoned as the buildings next to it, especially with the boarded up windows. He guessed it made sense to blend in with the surroundings, rather than having a visit from the Shadow-kin during the night. Across the street from the mansion was a park, there were trees, benches and even a duck pond, though it held no ducks and the trees bore no leaves or fruit. Cars were parked in driveways, or just abandoned on the street - from the looks of them, they were expensive, further compounding Joey's belief that once upon a time this was a nice place to live.

The air was fresh, and just a little cold, making Joey cross his arms to keep his fingers warm. Seto, who was taking the lead seemed unhampered by the chill in the air, though Yugi was keeping his hands in his pockets. Yugi had his sword strapped to his back, the handle just within reach should he wish to draw it, though Seto kept his strange looking gun in his hands at all times, his deck of cards were in a pouch attached to his belt. Seto's gun also seemed to have one of the red crystals welded onto the barrel of the firearm.

"Hey, guys," Said Joey, jogging slightly to bridge the distance between the three of them. "What exactly are those red things? Are they gems, or crystals, or what?" The question had been nagging Joey since he first saw them in Yugi's atelier. Seto looked back and nodded at Yugi, who took it to mean that he should explain it to the new guy.

"Well," began, Yugi, "The process is rather intricate and I don't want to linger on the "how's" too much, the "why's" are far more important. These are Summoning Crystals, with some help from modern science, we use them as weapons to fight off the Shadow-kin. You see, while we can damage the Shadow-kin with traditional weapons, we can never kill them completely. They are able to heal from any mortal wound, given time. However, the Summoning Crystals inflict wounds that they cannot recover from, and also give us extra fire power in the form of these."

Yugi reached into his pocket, producing a deck of cards, they looked identical to the ones he saw both Mako and Seto carrying. Yugi picked up the top card and passed it to Joey.

"Magical Hats?" Asked Joey, the cards face had a green background with a picture of four tophats on it. Yugi grinned and placed the card back in his deck, returning them to his pocket.

"It's the kind of thing you just have to see to believe, I guess." He turned back and ran a little to catch up with Seto, Joey followed, not fully understanding what he had just heard.

After wandering for at least an hour, Joey had not heard a single sound other than the footsteps of his two partners. Sometimes the wind would blow through an empty alleyway causing Seto to stop and look around before continuing on. The cityscape only got more and more haunting the further into the center they traveled, there were large cracks in the roads, the cars had their windows smashed in and the tall buildings toward over them, looking more like abandoned prisons than homes and businesses now.

And just when Joey had become accustomed to the silence, he heard a sound in the distance.

"What was that?" Said Yugi, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword but not drawing it. Seto held his hand up for silence, and closed his eyes. Joey's heart pounded and his eyes frantically darted around, looking for signs on movement.

"Oh…it's them." Said Seto, who sighed and lowered his gun back to his side. Yugi let go of the hilt of his blade and kicked a nearby stone, it bounced for a while before falling into one of the cracks on the road.

"Them, who?" Asked Joey, edging up close to Seto, though not too close so it would be noticeable that he was frightened.

"The Order…," said Seto in an unemotional tone, "A bunch of religious nut-jobs who pray on peoples fears and get them to join their cult. They must be having a sermon today, they do that sometimes - it's how they find their fresh meat. You best stay far away from them, you hear?" Seto flicked his blue eyes in Joey's direction, Joey nodded in reply.

"Seto, maybe we should have a look, he might be there." Said Yugi, his voice trembled a little as he spoke, his eyes were firmly fixed on the ground in front of him.

"No, Yugi. We don't have time, and besides, he picked his path. We told him to come back if it ever got too much for him, and he didn't, so please, let's forget about it." replied Seto, who took out the piece of paper in his pocket and read the co-ordinates again.

Joey figured it best not to pursue the matter any further, as an uncomfortable silence had fallen upon the trio. This continued for another couple of miles before Seto suddenly came to a halt and looked around. He thought for a while before pointing at a tall building that sat on the corner of a junction. It was made of red bricks and had flowerbeds outside the windows, though no flowers bloomed in them.

"She should be in there, I'll take the lead, Yugi look after Joey." Seto exchanged a look with Yugi, who nodded and patted Joey on the shoulder. Joey felt silly having a kid who didn't look any older than fourteen as his guardian, though instinct dictated that Yugi was capable of far more than his appearance let on.

Once they got to the blue wooden doors, Seto looked back at them, nodded once and opened the door. As soon as the door swung open Seto aimed his gun with both hands, preparing to fire if necessary. Joey Could see the gun in greater detail now. It was similar to a shotgun, though much shorter in the barrel and completely white. It also had a more "modern" feel to it, like something out of science fiction, the trigger was light blue.

Stepping into the hallway quietly, they all looked around for signs of life. In the middle of the hallway was an ascending spiral staircase, at the end was a door that looked like it would lead to the basement. Seto leaned over the stairs' banister and looked up.

"Hello?" Seto's voice echoed up the spiral staircase. A few seconds with no reply went by, before a girls panicked voice called back to them from the door at the end of the hall.

"Hello! Are you here because of my message? Are you here to help me?" Said the girl, she sounded frightened.

Seto looked back at them wordlessly before walking towards the door. He rested his ear against the wooden frame and spoke through the cracks.

"Can you hear me? We are here to help, what is your name?"

"Oh thank, God!" cried the girl, she seemed to be talking through sobs, "I thought I was going to die down here. My names Rebecca. Please, I'm trapped, my legs are caught under a beam of wood, I can't get up!"

"She sounds like she's in a lot of pain, Seto. We should get down their and help her." Said Joey. Yugi nodded though he didn't say anything, Seto made no reaction at all except twisting the door handle. A cold draft came up from the basement and blew Seto's hair a little.

"Please, come quickly. They might come back for me!" Rebecca's voice carried through the complete darkness of the basement. Joey had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to see his own hand in front of his face if he were to go down there.

"I don't like the look of this," said Seto ominously, "Joey, switch on the torch that Yugi gave you and stand between us, try and aim it over my shoulder and light my way, please." Joey fumbled for the torch and shakily brought it out of his back pocket and switched it on, standing behind Seto and aiming it over his shoulder.

Cobwebs littered the walls leading down to the basement, and the wooden staircase was missing a few steps, if you were to try and go down blind you would more than likely break your ankle.

"Please, hurry, the sun will be gone soon and they'll come back for me!" cried Rebecca, Joey could hear the sound of rubble clattering to the ground below, this structure was not sound.

"We're coming Rebecca, please, keep talking, we will find you by the sound of your voice." Said Yugi, who placed a hand on Joey's side, partly to keep his own balance and also to guide Joey gently down the staircase. As Rebecca talked about where she grew up, where she worked and what her hobbies were, Seto kept his gun as ready as ever as they neared the bottom. Joey could now make out where the stairs ended and the floor began, though the small spotlight the torch gave showed no indication of the place Rebecca was supposed to be trapped.

All was silent except for the sound of their breath, Seto was gripping his gun tighter as he stepped down onto the concrete floor of the basement, Yugi's hand remained in place, until suddenly it tensed tightly at Joey's side. At first Joey was unsure why, but then he realised that Rebecca had stopped talking and that an eerie stillness was in the air.

"Get back!" Cried Seto, but as the words came out a mass of flailing limbs had tackled Seto, making him fall backwards, also trapping Joey underneath his own weight, the impact of the fall made Joey drop his torch, which rolled away illuminating as it went numerous figures in the room that recoiled at the light. Seto struggled with the girl on top of him as Joey tried to wriggle his way free from under him.

Joey whimpered as he heard the footsteps of the others that were hiding in the basement coming closer, and when he got his leg free, he kicked as hard as he could above the place he knew Seto's body to be. His foot must have made impact as he heard the girl who claimed to be called Rebecca crying out in pain and falling backwards.

"Run, now, go!" cried Seto and he struggled to get back on his feet while various clutching hands tried to pull him under, Joey refused to abandon him and reached for Seto's hand and held it tightly as the Shadow-kin tried to pull him away, and just when it looked like they would break Joey's grip, he heard Yugi's voice.

"Swords of Revealing Light!" Cried Yugi, and as he spoke those words, a red flash illuminated the room for a second, before it was replaced with a brilliant whiteness that radiated from the blade of his sword. The light found it's way into every knook and cranny of the room, and the Shadow-kin recoiled in agony as the light bathed their skin.

Seto immediately ceased the moment Yugi had bought them and snatched up his gun quickly and ran back up the wooden staircase, still clutching Joey's hand. Once they neared the top where Yugi was standing with his luminous sword, they ducked under his arm and bolted through the door. Yugi when he was sure the two were safe turned and ran towards the door himself as fast as he could, as his weapons light was quickly evaporating.

The Shadow-kin took this final chance to give chase, with an almost inhuman speed they reached for Yugi's clothes. As soon Yugi had made it past the frame, Seto slammed the door closed.

"Quick! Get into the sun!" He yelled.

A/N: Ooooo, action sequence. This is my first action sequence and I would love to hear feedback on it. Do you feel you knew what was going on during it? Did I build up an atmosphere, was their suspense? I would love to hear feedback on this, and I will continue to write it as long as one person wants to read it.


	6. La Vie En Rose

Chapter 6: La Vie En Rose

Once Joey got outside, he couldn't stop running even though he was safe in the light. He wanted to get as far away from that basement as possible, Seto and Yugi seemed to have the same idea, but as they were turning a corner, Yugi collapsed to his knees and started breathing heavily.

"Can't…keep…running." He said between deep intakes of air. Seto had stopped running as well and went back to Yugi and started rubbing his back while he tried to recover. Joey jogged up to them and sat down on the sidewalk, his head resting in his hands.

"Are you okay, Yugi?" Asked Joey, Yugi just nodded in reply, he looked like he was going to fall asleep at any moment, though he was clearly fighting it.

"He's just exhausted, the Summoning Crystals are powered by our own energies, it leaves you a bit drained after using them." Said Seto, who was wrapping his arm around Yugi's waist while pulling the smaller boys arm around his neck, supporting him as he tried to get him to stand up. "Joey, if you could support the other side, please. We have to leave now if we are going to make it back home before the sun sets. "Joey obliged and supported the smaller boy from the other side, together they carried him as they walked through the abandoned city. As the sun lowered closer to the horizon, the sky's usual deep red started to lighten, making the city seem like it was bathed in a pink glow.

"That was scary," Said Joey, his heart still pounding from the experience. "What happened with Yugi's sword, it just started glowing all of a sudden, it was so bright." Seto took a card that was still being held tightly in Yugi's hand and passed it to Joey, the face was charred black in places, leaving it almost unrecognizable.

"That used to be Swords of Revealing Light." Explained Seto, shifting his weight so he could support Yugi more comfortably, "The Summoning Crystals let us tap into the dormant powers that each card possess, letting us harness their energy for a one time use. After the cards energy is drained, it is useless. You can throw that one away." Yugi made a whimpering noise and closed his eyes, he had passed out. They kept on walking.

"This is all so…unreal." Said Joey, "Where did these cards come from?" Joey had so many questions, he wondered if he was annoying Seto, though he didn't show it if he was.

"They used to be playing cards, for a game. It was very popular, but the origin of them came from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Their effects in real life are more practical than their effects in the game, I suppose they had to change them a little, in terms of making them into a card game." Said Seto, his eyes locked on the path in front of him, occasionally looking at the position of the sun.

They walked in silence the rest of the way while Joey pondered Seto's words. If this were true, he would need to ask Yugi when he wakes up to make him his own Crystal Weapon and cards, the thought of entering another Shadow-kin infested area armed with just a torch made his skin crawl.

Once the reached the large wooden doors of the mansion, Joey rested his head against the surface, breathing heavily. No matter how small someone may be, once they become unconscious they may as well be made out of lead. Seto rapped on the door repeatedly.

"No secret knock?" Asked Joey, it had always seemed like a good idea when he saw it in spy movies.

"What's the point? The Shadow-kin retain their memories." As Seto replied, they heard a familiar dreamy voice coming from beyond the door.

"We aren't here right now, can I take a message?" Asked Ryou. Seto sighed deeply, Joey wondered if this was Ryou's idea of a joke. Seto licked his lips and thought for a while.

"Ryou, Yugi is here with us, and he brought you back a new book. He said you would like -" Seto was cut off when the door creaked upon and Ryou's mess of white hair poked out of the mansion, looking around suspiciously.

"You lied." Said Ryou, matter-of-factly, Seto grunted and pushed the door open further, picking up Yugi's body and carrying him through the doors leading to the dining hall. Ryou stared at Joey for a while, making him feel a tad uncomfortable. When his stares seemed like they weren't going to end any time soon, Joey decided it would be best to try and find the girls.

Walking into the kitchen he found Ishizu stirring a large pot on the stove, his stomach lurched, as if trying to reach for the soup of its own accord. Anzu was directly opposite her, slicing carrots on a chopping board.

"Oh!" Jumped Ishizu, "You are back! How did it go, did you rescue the girl?" She stopped stirring the pot and Anzu looked up from her carrots, glancing over Joey's shoulder, as if looking for something. Joey could guess what she was hoping for.

"No…she was a Shadow-kin." Said Joey, Ishizu gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "She wasn't alone either, the basement was full of them! I thought we were goners but Yugi did something funny with his sword and bought us enough time to escape."

"Is everyone okay?" Asked Anzu, sitting the knife she was holding down.

"Yeah, everyone's fine. Yugi was pretty tired after doing that card trick, and I think Seto has taken him down into the medical room to rest. I'm sorry, Anzu, we didn't see Mako." Joey felt pretty bad, breaking the news to her. Her shoulders slumped slightly and gave a defeated smile.

"It's okay, I'm sure he will be back soon." She said, her tone betrayed her words. "Thanks for letting me know though, you're a gem." She gave a more sincere smile and went back to her chopping. Joey felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back. Seto was standing behind him, he looked exhausted.

"I'm going to go take a bath, Ishizu will you look after Yugi for me?" He said, yawning slightly.

"Of course, though don't think you are going to bed without eating something first. Joey, could you stir the soup please? There ain't nothing to it really." Said Ishizu, dusting off her hands on the front of her shirt. Joey took over stirring duty while Seto went upstairs and Ishizu went into the basement to look after Yugi.

Everyone crowded around the dinner table as Joey ladled soup into everyone's bowls. Anzu was breaking up bread and putting it on the saucers next to the bowls. At that moment, Joey could think of nothing else but the food in front of him, he was starved. Looking back on his day, he wondered how his brain hadn't had a meltdown by now.

"Joey," said Seto who was at the head of the table, dunking a piece of bread into the soup. "You should take a bath after dinner tonight, I have one in the bathroom next to my bedroom you can use. Though you won't be able to use a lot of hot water."

"Thanks, Seto. I appreciate it." Joey smiled appreciatively and went back to his soup. Anzu was teasing Ryou by blowing the pages of his book while he tried to read and eat his soup, making the white-haired teen give her a glare so fierce, Joey wondered if it was safe to be in the same room. Anzu, however, just laughed and ruffled his hair. Ishizu ate mostly in silence, her mind seemed to be somewhere else.

"I'm going to take Yugi's soup down to him and help him eat. Joey, you should take Seto's offer for a bath while you can, the water won't be warm for long. I'm sure Seto will let you borrow some clothes again." With that she stood up and picked up a tray with soup on it and descended the staircase.

When Joey finished his soup, he stood up and asked Seto for directions to the bathroom.

"I'll take you there, gimmie a sec." Said Seto as he raised the bowl of soup to his lips and drank the remaining liquid at the bottom. He then stood up and indicated that Joey should follow him. As they climbed the stairs to the second floor, Joey asked a question that he had been meaning to ask since he first woke up.

"Seto, you were there soon after I first woke up, weren't you?" Asked Joey, when Seto nodded in the affirmative Joey continued, " What did you say to Ishizu when you took her out of the room? When she came back she was very upset, in fact, she still looks upset." Joey hoped he wasn't asking inappropriate questions.

"Ah, that. Well, since we know for sure now you aren't a Shadow-kin, I guess I can tell you. Ishizu has a brother named Marik, the day we found you we were investigating suspicious activity at Rarrogehna Site. It was just Mako, Marik and myself that went along." Seto stopped ascending the staircase and leaned against the banister. "Lots of things happened that I still haven't fully made sense of yet, the entire place was aflame. Somehow though, we had gotten surrounded by the Shadow-kin. We heard someone scream from the opposite direction and we ran towards the sound, it came from a storage room. Mako and I made it into the storage room on time, but Marik was caught by the Shadow-kin. We found you laying on the floor, unconscious."

Joey didn't know what to say, it was clear from Seto's expression that he felt very guilty about what happened that night. "Thanks," Said Joey, "I mean, thanks for saving me. You could have just left me there, I could have been Shadow-kin for all you knew, but you still brought me back. I'm sure Mako will find Marik, don't blame yourself." Joey placed a hand on Seto's shoulder, Seto closed his eyes and sighed.

"I hope so." Seto patted Joey's hand for a second, before continuing up the staircase. The hallway floors were decorated with a rich, red carpet. The doors were painted white and each had a little lamp hanging just outside. It reminded Joey of a hotel room, though not any particular one he could recall, in his current state.

Seto led him to one of the doors and opened it, inside was a four-poster bed and a sofa. There was a startling lack of any decorations, and the wallpaper seemed to be peeling off the walls. There were piles of books taking up a large space on the floor. It didn't look like much, but at least it was clean.

"The bathroom is just through that door, I'll leave some fresh clothes just outside the door." Seto stretched as he spoke. "I'll be going to bed now. Yugi will be sleeping in the medical room tonight, so you should sleep on the sofa here. I swear it's more comfortable than it looks." Joey nodded and smiled, the sofa actually looked more comfortable than that old mattress.

When Joey came out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed after a long soak that loosened his muscles and made him more drowsy, he spotted the clothes Seto had left for him beside the door. He sat the pair of black jeans to the side, and changed into the boxer briefs and T-shirt. Walking over to the sofa he noticed Seto had laid out a blanket and pillow for him. Glancing over at the bed he smiled as he noticed Seto snoring softly, hugging a pillow at his side.


End file.
